Mayflower Productions was a British-based film production company of the 1930s and 1950s.

Mayflower Pictures

Mayflower Pictures was formed in July 1937 by German-born film producer

Erich Pommer Erich Pommer (20 July 1889 – 8 May 1966) was a German-born film producer and executive. Pommer was perhaps the most powerful person in the German and European film industries in the 1920s and early 1930s. As producer, Erich Pommer was involved ...

and British actor

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

. John Maxwell was on the board. They announced they would make three films, all to star Laughton – '' Vessel of Wrath'' (1938), ''

St. Martin's Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street. St Martin' ...

'' (1938) and '' Jamaica Inn'' (1939). The films were all made. '' Jamaica Inn'' was the last film directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

before he left for America and marking the star debut of

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...

, who was put under contract to the company. In March 1939 Mayflower signed a contract with Paramount for the latter to distribute four of their films in the US. The fourth film would be a version of '' The Admirable Crichton'' with Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and O'Hara There were also plans to make a movie about a journalist written by Bartlett Press. However the disappointing financial performance of the films saw the company lose its main backer, John Maxwell. Laughton went to America to appear in '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' and Pommer went with him to negotiate American distribution rights for the films; after this, war broke out, and as a German passport holder, Pommer was unable to return to England. O'Hara, Pommer and Laughton all went to work for RKO. For a time, ''The Admirable Crichton'' was still discussed but the film was never made. Neither was another proposed project, a biopic of

Dr Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...

Mayflower Productions

The company was re-activated in the late 1940s as "Mayflower Productions", the company of

Maxwell Setton Maxwell Setton (born 24 October 1909, date of death unknown) was a British film producer, notably active in the 1950s.McFarlane, Brian (28 February 2014). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition''. Oxford University Press. pp. 688-689; ...

and

Aubrey Baring Aubrey Baring (1912-1985) was a British film producer. For a number of years he was in partnership with Maxwell Setton. They made movies for a newly organised Mayflower Productions, releasing through Rank. Select filmography *'' Snowbound'' (19 ...

. It made seven films, mostly action stories, before the company was dissolved. The company initially borrowed money from Rank or ABPC. In December 1951 Setton arranged finance from the NFFC and the Treasury Capital Issue's Committee to finance ''South of Algiers'' provided he could get a distributor guarantee. This meant Setton only had to get a guarantee from a distributor, not actually money. Setton and Baring ultimately parted ways after a differing of opinion of what films to make. Setton set up Marksman Films.

Filmography

Mayflower Pictures

*'' Vessel of Wrath'' (1938) *''

'' (1938) AKA ''Sidewalks of London'' *'' Jamaica Inn'' (1939)

Mayflower Productions

*'' The Spider and the Fly'' (1949) *''

Cairo Road Cairo Road is the main thoroughfare of Lusaka, Zambia and the principal business, retail and service centre of the city. It is a section of the T2 road and was so named because it is a link in Cecil Rhodes' then dream of a Cape to Cairo Road th ...

'' (1950) *'' The Adventurers'' (1951) aka ''Fortune in Diamonds'', ''The Great Adventure'' *'' So Little Time'' (1952) *''

Raiders in the Sky ''Appointment in London'' (known as ''Raiders in the Sky'' in the U.S.) is a 1953 British war film set during the Second World War and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film was directed by Philip Leacock and based on a story by John Wooldridge, who ...

'' aka ''Appointment in London'' (1953) *''

South of Algiers ''South of Algiers'' (U.S. ''The Golden Mask'') is a 1953 British travel adventure film, directed by Jack Lee and starring Van Heflin, Wanda Hendrix and Eric Portman. It is based on an original screenplay by Robert Westerby, and was partly ...

'' aka ''The Golden Mask'' (1953) *'' They Who Dare'' (1954)

References

External links

Mayflower Pictures
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Mayflower Productions
at

Mayflower Pictures
at BFI Film production companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-film-company-stub